Exam 13: Power and Politics

Connie Cole works as a junior market analyst at SPS Services. Her previous manager retired a couple of months back and she now has a younger male manager who repeatedly insists that she accompany him for a coffee or dinner after work. Initially, Connie was unsuspecting and refused because she did not have the time for such engagements during weekdays. Later, when her manager's requests became frequent, she grew uncomfortable and told him firmly that she was not interested in him and his attempts were not welcome. She realized that this step may backfire because as her superior, he had complete control over her appraisals, bonuses, and promotions and her manager even told her that if she does not agree, he will "find other ways." Connie's experiences is best described as ________.

Timothy Jenkins was working for six years at Hartford Mills, a company that takes a strong stand against unionization. Though Timothy's designation was that of a production supervisor, as the company grew, he also took on additional duties like keeping a check on employee safety, ensuring that legal measures are followed, and implementing programs for labor welfare that the company planned. Many believed that Timothy was doing a great job for the company and so it came as a surprise when Timothy was rumored to face severe disciplinary action as he was encouraging the workers to join a union. However, he was let off with a mere warning. Timothy claimed that he was only looking to ensure greater employee welfare which was one of the duties the company had assigned to him. Which of the following, if true, would help Hartford Mills avoid such situations in the future?

The political behavior required of employees is specified in the job requirements.

Daphne is one of the three project managers at Virgo Inc., an art and design studio. Raymond and Gabriel, the other two project managers, are unhappy working with Daphne as she always selects projects that suit her area of expertise and avoids projects which require more ambiguous work, have tight deadlines, and represent a low probability of success. Raymond and Gabriel feel that they deserve greater credit than Daphne for being open and accepting different work demands and situations, as opposed to Daphne, who always takes a conservative and risk-averse approach. Daphne is using the defensive behavior of ________ here.

When the audience does not care about the outcomes, using a combination of ________ can help lessen negative reactions to the feeling that one is dictating outcomes.

Political behaviors usually ________.

Employees exhibiting which of the following features are more likely to engage in political behavior?

Differentiate between enhancement and exemplification as impression management techniques with an example for each.

In the last month, Stacey, an intelligent and astute employee, has finished only half the work she was scheduled to complete. In addition, she has been taking frequent leaves citing her ill health being the reason but her manager suspects she has been playing truant. When the manager confronted her about her pending work, Stacey began to give excuses; she said that the work was time-consuming, she was unwell, and that it was not a high-priority project in the first place. In this scenario, Stacey is using a(n) ________ impression management technique.

For a person to be recognized as having a high degree of political skill, he/she must have the ________.

Which of the following statements is true regarding power?

Which of the following statements is true regarding legitimate power?

Define political behavior and explain its features.

Leaders and managers in positions of power pay greater costs for unfairness and reap greater benefits for fairness.

Power may be categorized as ________.

Which of the following defensive behaviors involves developing explanations that lessen one's responsibility for a negative outcome and apologizing to demonstrate remorse?

Which of the following statements is true with regard to the effectiveness of tactics?

Which of the following factors contributes to political behavior in the organization?

How does reward power contribute to sexual harassment?

Which of the following is a differentiating factor between power and leadership?